Vegetable Stock

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Recipe by Liz Neumark

"I typically make my stock at the end of the day I am doing the most cooking.  This way, as I collect veggie scraps, I put them in the pot.  When I am done with food prep, I add water to the pot and start to simmer the stock.
 
What do I use:
-Carrot tops, I always insist the farmer leaves them on, and perhaps, gives me a few that other customers did not want.  If peeling carrots, I save the peels as well for the pot.
-Celery, the knob, the inner green leaves and the tops.
-Peppers, all cores and seeds (I might save these during the week in either the fridge or freezer).
-Onions, garlic, all peels and skin  (If I don’t have a lot of onion scraps, I will add a fresh onion for flavor).
-Herbs, all stalks and trimmings.
-Zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, all trimmings or scraps.
-Corn, once I cut the kernels off, the cobs are like gold in the stock.
 
Then, it’s a good time to look in the fridge.  What is hiding that I know I will not get a chance to cook.  A few stray green beans?  Some peas?  A hidden half stalk of celery? A few limp carrots?  A bruised tomato – the unloved leftovers just waiting to be transformed.
 
If there are some leftover cooked veggies (beans, potatoes, zucchini) I might add them as well.
Things I avoid: broccoli, cabbage, beets, artichokes and other veggies that will overpower the broth.
 
I don’t worry about a little dirt getting into the pot.  After a good simmer (1-2 hours) I scoop all the veggies and drain them in a colander.  As I pour off the final broth, the very bottom where the grit has collected (not more than a half cup of liquid) may be discarded."